Villette : Charlotte Bronte : 9780375758508 Charlotte Bronte Classics Flap copy ""Villette! "Villette! Have you read it?" exclaimed George Eliot when Charlotte Bronte's final novel appeared in 1853. "It is a still more wonderful book than "Jane Eyre. There is something almost preternatural in its power." Arguably Bronte's most refined and deeply felt work, "Villette draws on her profound loneliness following the deaths of her three siblings. Lucy Snowe, the narrator of "Villette, flees from an unhappy past in England to begin a new file as a teacher at a French boarding school in the great cosmopolitan capital of "Villette. Soon Lucy's struggle for independence is overshadowed by both her freindship with a wordly English doctor and her feelings for an autocratic schoolmaster. Bronte's strikingly modern heroine must decide if there is any man in her society with whom she can live and still be free. ""Villette is an amazing book," observed novelist Susan Fromberg Schaeffer.

"Written before psychoanalysis came into being, "Villette is nevertheless a psychoanalytic work--a psychosexual study of its heroine, Lucy Snowe. Written before the philosophy of existentialism was formulated, the novel's view of the world can only be described as existential. . . . Today it is read and discussed more intensely than Charlotte Bronte's other novels, and many critics now beleive it to be a true master-piece, a work of genius that more than fulfilled the promise of "Jane Eyre." Indeed, Virginia Woolf judged "Villette to be Bronte's "finest novel." show more Review quote "Bronte's finest novel." --Virginia Woolf show more About Charlotte Bronte Charlotte Bronte was born at Thornton, Yorkshire, on April 21, 1816. Her father, Patrick Bronte, became curate for life of the moorland parish of Haworth, Yorkshire, in 1820, and her mother, Maria Bronte, died the following year, leaving behind five daughters and a son who were cared for in the parsonage by their aunt, Elizabeth Branwell.

The eldest daughters, Maria and Elizabeth, died in 1825 from tuberculosis contracted at the religious boarding school to which they (along with Charlotte and her younger sister Emily) had been sent. (All the Bronte children ultimately suffered from lung disease.) Raised at home thereafter, Charlotte, Emily, their youngest sister, Anne, and brother, Branwell, lived in a fantasy world of their own making, drawing on their voracious reading of Byron, Scott, Shakespeare, "The Arabian Nights, " and gothic fiction, and writing elaborate poetic and dramatic cycles involving the histories of imaginary countries. Charlotte's early writings revolved around the kingdom of Angria, about which she wrote melodramatic tales of passion and revenge. She spent a year studying at Miss Wooler's school in Roe Head (later relocated to Dewsbury Moor), and went back there to teach from 1835 to 1838; subsequently she worked as a governess. With Emily, Charlotte traveled in 1842 to study languages at a boarding school in Brussels; her close emotional attachment to her instructor, M. Heger, a married man, would later figure in her fiction.

Charlotte and Emily went home after a year because of their aunt's death; Charlotte subsequently returned to Brussels for a year of teaching, 1843 to 1844. A joint collection of poems by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne published pseudonymously as "Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell" appeared in 1846. The three sisters had in the meantime each written a novel, of which Emily's "Wuthering Heights" and Anne's "Agnes Grey" were accepted in 1847 for publication the following year. Charlotte's first novel, "The Professor, " based on her experiences in Brussels, was rejected by a series of publishers (it finally appeared posthumously in 1857). "Jane Eyre" was published under Charlotte's pseudonym, Currer Bell, in 1847 and achieved commercial and critical success; it had gone through four editions by the time of Charlotte's death.

"Jane Eyre" won high praises; William Makepeace Thackeray (who later became a friend) declared himself "exceedingly moved and pleased," and George Henry Lewes applauded its "deep significant reality"; it was also criticized by some for the rebelliousness of its heroine and for what the Quarterly Review called "coarseness of language and laxity of tone." During this period the Brontes underwent repeated tragedies. Branwell, despite his early promise, had been ravaged by the effects of drink and drugs, and when he found work as a tutor in the same household where Anne was a governess, his involvement with his employer's wife led to his dismissal; he died in September of 1848, followed three months later by Emily and the following year by Anne. Charlotte, the sole survivor, published two more novels, "Shirley" (1849), a novel of Yorkshire during the Napoleonic period, and "Villette" (1853), a further fictional exploration of her Brussels experiences.

In 1850 she met the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, with whom she formed a close friendship; Gaskell later wrote the classic biography of her friend, "The Life of Charlotte Bronte" (1857). Charlotte married her father's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls, in 1854, and died on March 31, 1855." show more Follow us Villette (TV Series 1970– ) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Based on a Charlotte bronte novel of the same name. A younger English woman who finds herself without any prospects travels to the continent on a bold journey. She finds a home in a girls ...

See full summary » Stars: a list of 24 titles created 21 Apr 2011 a list of 126 titles created 29 Dec 2013 a list of 67 titles created 22 Aug 2014 a list of 36 titles created 9 months ago a list of 835 titles created 7 months ago Search for " Villette " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Add Image Add an image Do you have any images for this title? Based on a little known 1848 novel by Anne Bronte, Tara Fitzgerald stars as an enigmatic young woman who moves to 19th Century Yorkshire with a young son. Distancing herself from everyone ... See full summary » Stars: Toby Stephens, Tara Fitzgerald, Rupert Graves Jane Eyre (TV Mini-Series 1973) Drama | Romance After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house, to care for his young daughter.

Stars: Sorcha Cusack, Michael Jayston, Hazel Clyne Madame Bovary (TV Movie 2000) Drama | Romance A young woman in her late teens, a reader of novels and with high hopes of romance and passion, marries a widowed country doctor. Although he dotes on her, she is soon bored and discontent.... See full summary » Director: Tim Fywell Edit Storyline Based on a Charlotte bronte novel of the same name. A younger English woman who finds herself without any prospects travels to the continent on a bold journey. She finds a home in a girls school where she becomes a teacher. Romance and intrigue ensue. I am not sure why this novel hasn't been found by Hollywood. Great story. Written by John Woods 31 May 1970 (UK) See more » Company Credits This series is believed to be lost. Please check your attic. See more » Connections (United States) – See all my reviews I never saw this series - in fact I wonder if it ever appeared on U.S. television. But VILLETTE seems to have been made into a dramatic version only once, and this is it.

Hopefully somebody else will take note of my comment who actually saw this production. Most modern readers of the Brontes only recognize two of the seven novel titles that are associated with their names. Anne Bronte's two novels, THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL and AGNES GRAY, are still published (by Penguin and Everyman, for instance), but few bother to read them. The public only has time for the seething passions and emotions of Emily Bronte's WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and the more tightly passionate JANE EYRE of oldest sister Charlotte. But Charlotte Bronte wrote four complete novels. The second to be published was SHIRLEY, which was a love story but also involved a look at the problems of midland England in the period (roughly 1820 - 1835) when the countryside was industrializing. SHIRLEY has some interesting moments in it, but is not Charlotte Bronte at her best (Charlotte's close friend and biographer Elizabeth Gaskell wrote better "problem of England" novels like MARY BARTON and NORTH AND SOUTH). SHIRLEY appeared in 1849.

Charlotte did not publish another novel until 1853, when VILLETTE appeared. She regained her footing, telling a story of a young woman who finds romance with an older man in Belgium. The story was based on Charlotte's own experiences in working in a lady's school in Belgium in the 1830s. In fact it was the basis for a rather good sequence in the biographical movie DEVOTION, where Charlotte falls for the head teacher in the school she is teaching English in in Brussels. The sequence takes up about five minutes of DEVOTION, but Olivia de Haviland plays Charlotte well as she is first ecstatic about her romance with Victor Francken, only to be disillusioned when he returns to his regular wife. Francken gave a wonderful performance as the cynical teacher/lover. This disillusionment does not quite appear the same way in the novel VILLETTE. Lucy Snowe first is shown as a teenage girl, in love with Graham Bretton. He seems to reciprocate, but he leaves her to follow his career. Lucy grows up, and takes a job as an English instructor in a girl's finishing school in Brussels, run by the rather sinister Madame Beck.

The real heart of the school is Paul Emmanuel, a man in his late 40s. Unlike Edward Rochester, in JANE EYRE, who was rich and handsome, Paul is bald and plain, but he has a wonderfully strong character. Lucy finds herself falling for Paul, and he seems interested in her - but keeps stopping his natural inclinations due to some mysterious power over him from Madame Beck. In the meantime, Lucy meets a doctor in Brussels whom she refers to as "Doctor John". This turns out to be Graham Bretton, now a practicing physician. This odd double triangle of Lucy - Paul - Graham - Madame Beck is further complicated by a wealthy woman, Ginevra Fanshawe, who is in love with Graham too. The plot has the same weakness of coincidences that plague most Victorian fiction, but it's strength is in the relationships of Lucy with Paul and Graham, and in the odd conclusion. In the end the affection of Paul for Lucy triumphs, but the end of the novel has one of the oddest twists that Charlotte Bronte ever put into her fiction: Paul, we learn, did not live many years after he married Lucy. It is the only real downer among Charlotte Bronte's novels.

Charlotte died two years after VILLETTE was published. Posthumously an earlier version of VILLETTE, THE PROFESSOR (written in 1836 - 37), which is unique because instead of a female narrator as in the other three novel, THE PROFESSOR is narrated by it's central hero, a man. It is generally conceded that VILLETTE was Charlotte Bronte's best novel, due to her characterization of a Victorian May - October romance, her careful delineation of characters (especially Paul's), and by the downbeat ending. While one feels a sense of chagrin that Charlotte only wrote four novels, at least her abilities as a novelist were definitely getting better. What her fifth novel (a fragment with the title "Emma", like the Jane Austin novel and heroine) would have been like is difficult to imagine, but one hopes it would have been a success like VILLETTE was. 16 of 30 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Search eText, Read Online, Study, Discuss. Villete Hi, I finished Villete - a true masterpiece.

I just read it for the first time - and spent the past 2 1/2 hours trying to wrap my mind around it. It's funny, though, because while I greatly admire the book, I can't say I loved it. It didn't make me smile. Yet, the amount of involvement I felt as a reader is a true testament to my favorite author's genius. A few thoughts though: The character of Paulina greatly puzzled me. I found her to be a bit creepy as a child, and an oddly immature adult. I found it interesting that she gained Lucy's esteem. She praised Paulina... for what? Paulina really didn't appear to have much of a depth of character at all. It seems to me that her only credentials were her beauty, and lack of arrogance in comparison to her cousin. How did she win Lucy's affection? And even when she married the handsome Dr. John in the end, it gave me an aura of a "prince and princess together at last." Miss Fanshaw appears to be the ugly stepsister. Yet, again, other than being quieter and more submissive, Paulina is strikingly similar to Miss Fanshaw. Both are pretty, doted upon, and spoiled. Dr.

John pretty much falls for both of them based on their looks. I don't understand why Lucy gave Paulina so much credit. The Ending: The ending was a difficult thing. It was disappointing and infuriating, yet, I don't think it should have ended any other way. Lucy was not meant to reach happiness, I feel. She had a rough life, and I feel like giving her a happy ending would strip away from the authenticity of the book. On the other hand, killing off Paul Emanual would have definitively made it too sad. Leaving the ambiguous nature was suitable, though, I'll admit, greatly frustrating. Another question: In chapter XLI, M. Emanuel referred to Madame Beck as "femme" when he was trying to tell her to leave him and Lucy alone. Now I don't speak French, but upon entering that word on my trusty Google translate, I got that that word means "wife." Does anyone have another translation, speak French, or have an explanation for why he would refer to Madame Beck as that? All in all, this book was truly remarkable - unlike any other I have read. I am surprised that it has not received more recognition. Its unpredictable nature and depth of feeling were great.

I also liked how Bronte had a few different stories intertwined with Lucy's, and that they all saw completion. Paulina and Dr. John - the "perfects"; Miss Fanshawe and de Hamel - the "shallows"; and of course our chaotic Lucy and Paul Emanuel. Any thoughts? Posted By Laura Clarke at Mon 28 Mar 2016, 12:21 AM in Villette || 8 Replies Hello everyone! I finished reading 'Villette.' I loved it. I liked very much Dr. Bretton and Paulina, but my heroine was Lucy Snowe, absolutely!! Has anyone read it?

Posted By Carmilla at Tue 15 Mar 2016, 1:59 PM in Villette || 35 Replies just finished villette by charlotte bronte affected me deeply her writing reminds me of letters written during the civil war and conversations with my greatgrandfather would welcome any other feedback on her work Posted By twincitytony at Mon 24 Aug 2009, 9:07 AM in Villette || 0 Replies the youth drama I'm still reading the book, but frustrated immensely with not knowing what befell Lucy and her family between her last visit to her godmother and the time when she sets out to the Continent. It's something disastrous where she loses all her ties, seems to implicate her godmother and cousin too, and oppresses her so much she even goes to confession with a Catholic priest, and the priest thinks it of such a nature that she would do better in giving her life to the church. if it's never revealed what this disaster was (it seems even a shamefull one), are there any theories on what happened?

Posted By sweetsunray at Sun 31 May 2009, 9:39 PM in Villette || 8 Replies A Radio review of Villette Introduction: "Villette" is my second (to "Jane Eyre") favorite book by Charlotte Bronte. It is a kind of difficult and sad, but deep book (not without some comical scenes). The first time I read it, I remember that I was half-way through the book and I was suffering from the agonizing lack of plot so much, that although I like Charlotte Bronte's writing, I stopped to ask myself "Why am I reading this?". And then it was, as if I had felt a tip in my shoulder from Charlotte herself and I knew the answer. She seemed to say to me "If you who are just a reader can't bear Lucy Snowe's life, how is she to bear it that has to live it?". And I hastened to read what became of her. In that way it is a very clever book that makes you live the experience of her heroine (whom I like no matter how secretive she becomes sometimes).

So, I have grown to love Villette very much and I think that in the future it may even surpass my love for Jane Eyre. I certainly esteem it very much, but then again Jane Eyre is such a wonderland and gives you such a strong feeling of love and everlasting happiness that you enjoy just dwelling on that. To the point now: In 2007 Diane Rehm of the WAMU 88,5 FM made a "Reader's Review" about Villette inviting three university professors to comment on the book. I think that such events are pretty rare, so I made a video in youtube with their conversation, using pictures of Charlotte's life as a background. For anyone interested the address is or just type "ksotikoula" to see it. I would be happy to discuss with you their review or any other opinions about this book or it's connection with Charlotte's life. Posted By ksotikoula at Tue 24 Feb 2009, 8:24 PM in Villette || 0 Replies The Ultimate Bronte heroine? There is something about Lucy Snowe which changes her from being a detached, independent woman who after a struggle at lasts finds love i.e.

an instant Victorian heroine. (I know I'm generalising here). Lucy Snowe appeals to the reader as an underdog, and there is something inherently painful about her experiences which touches the heart and not just the mind. She is undoubtedly the most human character in all Bronte's novels. At first I felt that she was being used as a tool to make the reader think in a particular way, but by the end I saw a real woman there, struggling to match her intellectual ideas with genuine, raw emotions. But is Lucy Snowe intended to be Bronte's ultimate heroine, or a representation of herself - or both? Whatever the intention, I think this is Bronte's best. Posted By brambleshire at Sat 5 Jan 2008, 11:26 PM in Villette || 0 Replies Ending?? I went through couple of other threads.. I didn't find any topics regarding the ending of the story. I just finished reading the book and curious to know what other people thought about the ending. For me, this book is the best book ever. When I got this book from library, and began to read some pages, it really made me bored looking how long the book was.

But I am glad I didn't return it. Slowly I got the hang of this book and kept reading it all day long. I wish she made the happy ending of Lucy Snowe. I was really looking forward to see it. But so many hints were pointing out that he died on the voyage to meet her.:bawling: :bawling: :bawling: Think back on thier last meeting, when M Paul stopped after saying "When I come back___" He didn't say any more. And those three years were the best of her lives cuz she had hopes of him coming and have a happy ending. Also, how she described the storm and stuff when he was about to arrive. This really makes me sad.. Ughh.. Oh well, I hope there are other people out there who want happy ending as well. All the other people did, why not she? If M. Paul was to die, how terrible it would be??

Posted By suju at Wed 8 Aug 2007, 2:47 AM in Villette || 6 Replies Discuss Villette by Charlotte Bronte I am in the progress of writing an essay on the book Villette and I'm having some difficulty with wrting enough on the topics. Can anyone comment on some of the topics i chose such as the obvious social class differences, the impact of the theatre or the integration of nature or ghosts in the book. Posted By jcfl at Wed 28 Mar 2007, 7:24 PM in Villette || 1 Reply Some like 'em plain Because my sister and I share the same unwavering predilection for British Literature we always feel the need to show off our so called reading-prowess via animated and lengthy discussion (sounds weird I know).On reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, the question: would you prefer to be in a Bronte or Austen novel caught my interest and this I applied to my sister. "Jane Austen, hands, down!ï¿½:crash:-here was accompanied by a thumping action to emphasise her point.

Upon inquiring why she felt so, she came back with ï¿½Because thereï¿½s always a happy ending and youï¿½ll almost certainly end up with a nice husband.ï¿½ "Yes, but thatï¿½s not sufficient enough for me. What are youï¿½re other reasons?ï¿½ I observed that my sister had an almost unconcealed prejudice against Bronte books (what can I say, I have a sixth sense?) "Well,ï¿½ I donï¿½t think she meant to sound so superficial; sheï¿½s very candid in her ways, ï¿½why does Charlotte Bronte feel the need to make her characters so homely looking? Wouldnï¿½t it kill her to make a good-looking heroine?ï¿½ I can see my sister was still very bitter about the whole Paullina-Doctor Bretton falling in love thing. Clearly, she felt Lucy Snowe had more rights to him than little Polly ever did. "I know, it would have been nice for Lucy to run off with the handsome doctor.

Too bad she wasnï¿½t handsome enough,ï¿½ this last part I said and assented good-humouredly. ï¿½I mean I know the approach sheï¿½s getting at; sheï¿½s trying to be practical and everythingï¿½etc, etcï¿½ on this point my sister starts condemning the whole plain heroine and unprepossessing hero route Charlotte Bronte always takes ( Jane Eyre to her Rochester and Lucy Snowe to her Paul Emmanuel). In other words my sister's reasoning can be explained by imagining half of Englandï¿½s population as beautiful and the other ugly. So why did she have to portray the ugly half?! Lengthy discussion, see? Anyway, if you followed the above transaction between my sister and I, youï¿½d probably want my point. Readers, take this into consideration, it is only an opinion and without any intention of sounding shallow: why does Charlotte Bronte- undoubtedly brilliant as she was-feel the need to make her heroines plain and not prepossessing, homely and never beautiful. My sister and I wonder, my sister especially.

We canï¿½t help contemplating that if Lucy Snowe had some beauty in addition to her other charms as a character, would she have been able to capture Dr. Johnï¿½s affections? Can you sense how badly we wanted them two to get together? Life it seems is full of contradictions and can we not doubt that a personï¿½s attractiveness renders even the most reserved character personable? Especially in the eyes of a man who becomes impressionable by beauty and loveliness in a woman? By this Iï¿½m talking about Dr. John by Ginerva then by Polly. :ladysman: In my estimation readers, it seems in order to get the leading role in a Charlotte Bronte novel, homeliness and a quiet, perceptive nature is a job requirement. Feel free to discuss. Posted By I3rit-lit-lover at Mon 25 Dec 2006, 11:53 AM in Villette || 6 Replies Just finished reading Villette Hi, I've finished reading Villette by Charlotte Bronte and if anyone else has read it, i'd like to know what they think of it.

I liked it alot but I think the way that the characters all kind of coincidentally came together again was pleasant but made it seem somewhat unrefined to a degree. It shows the strength of female independence (perhaps exaggerated a little as are the rest of the characters) but I particularly liked it because it really portrays all the shades of isolation, lonliness and to an extent unrequited love however, I think Bronte could have shown the pain and desperation of unrequited love far more, i think it just scrapes the surface of the reality of unrequited love.

Please tell me what you thought of it Posted By JiaXiong at Fri 3 Mar 2006, 10:09 PM in Villette || 3 Replies Villette - Broadview Press Villette Publication Date: December 16, 2005 ISBN: 9781551114613 / 1551114615 648 pages; 5½" x 8½" Print $18.95 Publication Date: December 16, 2005 ISBN: 9781551114613 / 1551114615 Authors/Editors Charlotte Brontë’s contemporary George Eliot wrote of Villette, “There is something almost preternatural in its power.” The deceptive stillness and security of a girls’ school provide the setting for this 1853 novel, Brontë’s last.

Modelled on Brontë’s own experiences as a student and teacher in Brussels, Villette is the sombre but engrossing story of Lucy Snowe, an unmarried Englishwoman making her way in a culture deeply foreign to her. The heroine’s relationships with the fiery professor M. Paul, the cool Englishman Dr. John, and the school’s powerful headmistress, Madame Beck, are described in her compelling and enigmatic first-person narration. This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction by Kate Lawson and Lynn Shakinovsky. The many contextual documents include contemporary writings on surveillance and espionage, anti-Catholicism, and working women, as well as letters describing Brontë’s own time in Brussels. Victorian Contexts / The Ending of Villette " The Ending of Villette ." Harper's Bazaar 23 Dec. 1876: 820. Every reader knows in what fashion Villette ends, and most persons also know from Mrs. Gaskell that the reason why the actual issue is left in some uncertainty was the author’s filial desire to gratify her father. Charlotte herself was fully resolved that she would not make Lucy Snowe the happy wife of Paul Emanuel.

She never meant to, “appoint her lot in pleasant places.” Lucy was to bear the storm and stress of life in the same manner as that in which her creator had been compelled to bear it; and she was left in the end alone, robbed forever of the hope of spending the happy afternoon of her existence in the sunshine of love and congenial society. But, Mr. Brontë altogether unconscious of the tragedy of heart-sickness and soul-weariness which was being enacted under his own roof, and which furnished so striking a parallel to the story which ran through Villette, would not brook a gloomy ending to the tale, and by protestations and entreaties induced his daughter at least so far to alter her plan as to leave the issue in doubt. Annotations Villette This novel was written by Charlotte Brontë and was published in 1853 (Brontë 9). The story focuses on the life of the character, Lucy Snowe, who does not take on the typical female role of the time. Lucy leaves her home in England and sets off to find a job. She went on her journey alone without any plan of where she wanted to go. She finds a job working as a nurse for a widow.

The woman dies just before she wrote Lucy into her will which leaves her jobless and without money. The she gets on a boat and goes to Villette, France based on the recommendation of a stranger. She finds employment as a governess at a girls’ boarding school. While Lucy is working here, she tries to remain as invisible as possible, and seems to be content not having any friends. She is offered a job as an English teacher, but is hesitant to take it even though it is a promotion. She does end up taking the position and earns the respect of the students. During her stay she learns that the doctor for the school, John, was the son of Mrs. Bretton whom she lived with for several years. Oddly enough he does not recognize her until it is pointed out to him. She ends up developing feelings for him, but he winds up marrying Polly, another former member of the Bretton household. Another man comes into her life by the name of M. Paul, who is another teacher at the same school, and they seem to have a love- hate relationship. He pushes her to better things in her life, but she usually resists.

Eventually she ends up falling in love with him even though he has a mysterious past with another woman who died years ago. They move past that and decide to get married. However, he has to go over seas for three years while she is in Villette running her own school, that M. Paul sets up for her. Finally during the week that M. Paul was to return by ship, she looked out at the ocean and saw a wild storm raging over the water. The storm went on for a week straight. At the end of the novel, she does not indicate whether or not M. Paul died in the storm on his way back home, only that she had hope that he would make it back alive. The author never tells the reader if he died, if he had a delayed return, or if he never chose to come back, leaving the final scene open to interpretation (Brontë). Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë was born in Thorton, Yorkshire, England on April 21, 1816 to Patrick and Maria Brontë. She was one of six children. Her mother died in 1821 when Charlotte was only five years old.

Just four years later her two older sisters died due to an outbreak of typhoid. The remaining children, including Charlotte, began to write short stories and plays. In 1835 she taught at Roehead, a school she once attended. Later she worked as a governess for the Sedgwick family. In 1842 she traveled to Brussels to study French and meets Monsieur Heger. While in Brussels she developed a romantic relationship with M. Heger. In 1844 she returned home and is able to write a variety of her novels. Unfortunately, within a short time her remaining siblings die. In 1850 she meets Elizabeth Gaskell, who later wrote Bronte’s biography. In 1854 Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, and she died on March 31, 1855 (Dunleavy 111). In addition to writing Villette, she wrote several other books, including two in which she published, Jane Eyre and Shirley. Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Gaskell was born in 1810 and was a friend of Charlotte Brontë.

She wrote Brontë’s biography, The Life of Charlotte Brontë,, as well as several other novels. It is possible that there was bias in this biography as evidenced by her friendship with Charlotte Brontë and her dislike for Charlotte’s father, Patrick Brontë, and her husband, Authur Bell Nichols (Wikipedia). “She was determined to make her brilliant unconventional friend acceptable to her contemporaries…” (Fraser 24). This is seen in her biography of Charlotte Brontë’s life. Gaskell died in 1865 (Wikipedia). Lucy Snowe Main character/protagonist of Villette. Paul Emmanuel Teacher in Villette that falls in love with Lucy Snowe. At the end of the novel, he must leave for a trip and is gone for quite some time. He does not return from his trip and, his whereabouts contribute to the controversial ending of Villette. She never meant to, “Appoint her lot in pleasant places.” This quote used in “The Ending of Villette,” is taken from a letter written by Charlotte Brontë to George Smith, her publisher.

Bronte used this quote to describe her intention of Lucy Snowe not to have a “happy ending ” (Gaskell 484). Mr. Brontë Patrick Brontë was an Anglican clergyman. His preaching style emphasized “Fire and Brimstone” instead of salvation. He had strong views on how one should live their life according to the Bible and societal norms of the early nineteenth century (Fraser 46). After Mrs. Brontë’s death in 1821, Mr. Brontë became somewhat of a recluse. He no longer would eat dinner with his six children and spent most of his time in his den. He was more active in the community than in his own home (23). Mr. Brontë made sure that his children had ample access to reading material including novels, newspaper, and magazines. His focus was more geared toward their intellectual ability than their emotional and spiritual development (21). Charlotte stated once to Mrs. Gaskell that her father was, “solitary and misanthropic in his habits, though far from mad,” (Fraser 22). Gaskell describes Mr.

Brontë “as having opinions ‘often both wild and erroneous, his principles of action eccentric and strange, his views of life partial and misanthropical” (Fraser 25). It is thought that Gaskell may have had a negative bias towards Mr. Brontë. Even though he was very harsh, Charlotte spent most of her adult life with her father until she married Arthur Bell Nicholls. When Charlotte became ill, she made sure that her husband would take care of her father after she died (484). Analysis The ending of Villette is significant because it appears that Charlotte’s own life influenced the outcome of the novel. Charlotte Brontë’s life was full of sorrows which all started early in life with the loss of her mother and two siblings. Her remaining three siblings also died in quick succession later in Charlotte’s life (Dunleavy 111). She was then left with an uninvolved father who was dealing with depression (Fraser 27). Her lived experience comes through in the tone of this novel. There were many similarities between the life of Charlotte Brontë and the character Lucy Snowe. Charlotte Brontë grew up without a mother and had an inadequate relationship with her father.

She was a governess before she began her career as a writer and lived a somewhat isolated life (Dunleavy 111). Even though as a child her father was uninvolved, he seemed to be very protective of her when it came to relationships (Fraser 428). Charlotte Bronte had two significant men in her life, James Taylor and Arthur Bell Nicholls. James Taylor worked for Bronte’s publisher, George Smith. Brontë and Taylor built a relationship and he ended up proposing to her, but she declined (396). Taylor then left for India and stayed for five years (415). Arthur Bell Nicholls was her father’s curate (Dunleavy 111). Nicholls also proposed to Brontë two times, the first time she declined because her father did not approve. Her father had liked James Taylor, but did not like Nicholls and would not accept his daughter’s marriage to this man (Fraser 428-429). It has been thought that Mr. Brontë preferred that Charlotte not marry until after child bearing years because he was afraid she would die while giving birth (397).

The second proposal by Nichols was accepted by Charlotte seemingly out of pity because her father had been so harsh to him. She also felt that that no other man would want her due to her age, physical appearance, and low income (455-456). In Villette, the character Lucy Snowe never mentions her biological family or her relationship with them. Lucy lived an isolated life just as Brontë did while working as a governess because she had very limited social interactions and kept to herself. In the novel, Lucy had two love interests, Dr. John and then M. Paul, just as Charlotte did. The idea of M. Paul never returning to Lucy Snowe may have been linked to the idea that Brontë’s father made it difficult for her to have a happy marriage. Charlotte Brontë’s father played a major part in the ending of this novel. His influence on her and their inadequate relationship led to the controversial events in Villette. Charlotte intended to make the ending of Villette unhappy because of the events of her own life; although her father disagreed with this. After she finished Villette, “her father, to whom she had read some passages, was partly responsible for its enigmatic finale.

He could not bear a sad ending, and in the first version M. Paul had died in the shipwreck.” (Fraser 426). With the influence of Brontë’s father, Paul Emmanuel’s fate is left uncertain. Works Cited Bronte, Charlotte. Villette. Toronto, Ontario: Broadview Press Ltd., 2006. Dunleavy, Gweneth A. “Charlotte Bronte.” Research Guide to Bibliography & Criticism 1 Jan.1985: 111-114. Fraser, Rebecca. Charlotte Bronte: A Writer’s Life. New York: Pegasus Books LLC, 2008. Gaskell, Elizabeth. The Life of Charlotte Bronte. Great Britian: Penguin English Library, 1975. “The Ending of Villette.” Harper’s Bazaar 23 Dec. 1876: 820. Wikipedia. 4 Apr. 2009. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 13 Apr.

2009 < 9781934169414: Villette - AbeBooks - Charlotte Bronte: 1934169412 Charlotte Bronte ISBN 10: 1934169412 ISBN 13: 9781934169414 Publisher: Norilana Books, 2006 About this title Villette (1853) by Charlotte Brontë is the story of Englishwoman Lucy Snowe who ends up a teacher at a girls' pensionnat in Villette, the capital of Labassecour, a fictional French-speaking country on the continent. Autobiographical in many ways, the novel shows stoic Lucy overcoming barriers of language, culture, complex psychological self-conflict, emotional torment, and falling in love. The character of M. Paul Emanuel is believed to have been based on Charlotte Brontë's own impossible object of affection, the one and only true passion of her brief life -- Constantin Héger, the proprietor of the Brussels pensionnat where Charlotte taught. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author: Charlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards. She wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell. From AudioFile: Brontë's lengthy account of Lucy Snowe's teaching career in a French school for girls is the perfect vehicle for Karen Cass. She shows the full range of her talents in vocalizing French and English speakers of all ages. She delivers French dialogue with ease and is convincing in both female and male roles. Her most touching vocalization is that of a motherless child who enters Lucy's life. Cass paints an endearing portrait of the frightened and fragile little girl, who resurfaces later to play a pivotal role in Lucy's chances for marital bliss. Cass's delightful portrayals of key events and characters help the listener peek into the world of VILLETTE. J.J.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine "About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Charlotte Brontë - Charlotte Brontë Biography - Poem Hunter Charlotte Brontë - Charlotte Brontë Biography - Poem Hunter Biography Biography of Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards. She wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell. Early life and education Charlotte was born in Thornton, Yorkshire in 1816, the third of six children, to Maria (née Branwell) and her husband Patrick Brontë (formerly surnamed Brunty or Prunty), an Irish Anglican clergyman. In 1820, the family moved a few miles to the village of Haworth, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate of St Michael and All Angels Church. Charlotte's mother died of cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to be taken care of by her sister Elizabeth Branwell.

In August 1824, Charlotte was sent with three of her sisters, Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire (Charlotte later used the school as the basis for the fictional Lowood School in Jane Eyre). The school's poor conditions, Charlotte maintained, permanently affected her health and physical development and hastened the deaths of her two elder sisters, Maria (born 1814) and Elizabeth (born 1815), who died of tuberculosis in June 1825. Soon after their father removed them from the school. At home in Haworth Parsonage Charlotte acted as "the motherly friend and guardian of her younger sisters". She and the other surviving children — Branwell, Emily, and Anne – created their own literary fictional worlds, and began chronicling the lives and struggles of the inhabitants of these imaginary kingdoms. Charlotte and Branwell wrote Byronic stories about their imagined country ("Angria") and Emily and Anne wrote articles and poems about theirs ("Gondal").

The sagas which they created were elaborate and convoluted (and still exist in partial manuscripts) and provided them with an obsessive interest during childhood and early adolescence, which prepared them for their literary vocations in adulthood. Charlotte continued her education at Roe Head, Mirfield, from 1831 to 32, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. During this period, she wrote her novella The Green Dwarf (1833) under the name of Wellesley. Charlotte returned to Roe Head as a teacher from 1835 to 1838. In 1839, she took up the first of many positions as governess to various families in Yorkshire, a career she pursued until 1841. Politically a Tory, she preached tolerance rather than revolution. She held high moral principles, and, despite her shyness in company, she was always prepared to argue her beliefs. Brussels In 1842 Charlotte and Emily travelled to Brussels to enroll in a boarding school run by Constantin Heger (1809–96) and his wife Claire Zoé Parent Heger (1804–87).

In return for board and tuition, Charlotte taught English and Emily taught music. Their time at the boarding school was cut short when Elizabeth Branwell, their aunt who joined the family after the death of their mother to look after the children, died of internal obstruction in October 1842. Charlotte returned alone to Brussels in January 1843 to take up a teaching post at the boarding school. Her second stay at the boarding school was not a happy one; she became lonely, homesick and deeply attached to Constantin Heger. She finally returned to Haworth in January 1844 and later used her time at the boarding school as the inspiration for some experiences in The Professor and Villette. First publication In May 1846, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne self-financed the publication of a joint collection of poetry under the assumed names of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. These pseudonyms deliberately veiled the sisters' gender whilst preserving their real initials, thus Charlotte was "Currer Bell". "Bell" was also the middle name of Haworth's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls, whom Charlotte would later marry.

Of the decision to use nom de plumes, Charlotte later wrote: Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because — without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called 'feminine' – we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice; we had noticed how critics sometimes use for their chastisement the weapon of personality, and for their reward, a flattery, which is not true praise. Although only two copies of the collection of poetry were sold, the sisters continued writing for publication and began their first novels, continuing to use their nom de plumes when sending manuscripts to potential publishers. Jane Eyre Charlotte's first manuscript, called The Professor, did not secure a publisher, although she was heartened by an encouraging response she received from Smith, Elder & Co of Cornhill, who expressed an interest in any longer works which "Currer Bell" might wish to send.

Charlotte responded by finishing and sending a second manuscript in August 1847, and six weeks later this second manuscript (titled Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) was published. Jane Eyre was a success, and initially received favourable reviews. Straightaway there was speculation about the identity of Currer Bell, and whether Bell was a man or a woman. A couple of months later this speculation heightened upon the subsequent publication of the first novels by Charlotte's sisters: Emily's Wuthering Heights (by "Ellis Bell") and Anne's Agnes Grey (by "Acton Bell"). Accompanying this speculation was a change in the critical reaction to Charlotte's work; accusations began to be made that Charlotte's writing was "coarse", a judgement which was made more readily once it was suspected that "Currer Bell" was a woman. However sales of Jane Eyre continued to be strong, and may even have increased due to the novel's developing reputation as an 'improper' book. Shirley and family bereavements Following the success of Jane Eyre, Charlotte began work in 1848 on the manuscript of what was to become her second novel, Shirley.

However the manuscript was only partially completed when the Brontë household suffered a tragic turn of events, experiencing the deaths of three family members within a period of only eight months. In September 1848 Charlotte's brother, Branwell, the only son of the family, died of chronic bronchitis and marasmus exacerbated by heavy drinking, although Charlotte believed his death was due to tuberculosis. Branwell was also a suspected "opium eater", (i.e. a laudanum addict). Emily became seriously ill shortly after Branwell's funeral, dying of pulmonary tuberculosis in December 1848. Anne died of the same disease in May 1849. Charlotte was unable to continue writing during this period. After Anne's death Charlotte resumed writing as a way of dealing with her grief,and Shirley was published in October 1849. Shirley deals with the themes of industrial unrest and the role of women in society. Unlike Jane Eyre, which is written from the first-person perspective of the main character, Shirley is written from the third-person perspective of a narrator. It consequently lacks the emotional immediacy of Jane Eyre, and reviewers found it less shocking.

In society In view of the success of her novels, particularly Jane Eyre, Charlotte was persuaded by her publisher to visit London occasionally, where she revealed her true identity and began to move in a more exalted social circle, becoming friends with Harriet Martineau and Elizabeth Gaskell, and acquainted with William Makepeace Thackeray and G. H. Lewes. However Charlotte never left Haworth for more than a few weeks at a time as she did not want to leave her ageing father's side. Thackeray’s daughter, the writer Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie recalled a visit to her father by Charlotte: …two gentlemen come in, leading a tiny, delicate, serious, little lady, with fair straight hair, and steady eyes. She may be a little over thirty; she is dressed in a little barège dress with a pattern of faint green moss. She enters in mittens, in silence, in seriousness; our hearts are beating with wild excitement.

This then is the authoress, the unknown power whose books have set all London talking, reading, speculating; some people even say our father wrote the books – the wonderful books… The moment is so breathless that dinner comes as a relief to the solemnity of the occasion, and we all smile as my father stoops to offer his arm; for, genius though she may be, Miss Brontë can barely reach his elbow. My own personal impressions are that she is somewhat grave and stern, specially to forward little girls who wish to chatter… Every one waited for the brilliant conversation which never began at all. Miss Brontë retired to the sofa in the study, and murmured a low word now and then to our kind governess… the conversation grew dimmer and more dim, the ladies sat round still expectant, my father was too much perturbed by the gloom and the silence to be able to cope with it at all… after Miss Brontë had left, I was surprised to see my father opening the front door with his hat on. He put his fingers to his lips, walked out into the darkness, and shut the door quietly behind him… long afterwards… Mrs.

Procter asked me if I knew what had happened… It was one of the dullest evenings [Mrs Procter] had ever spent in her life… the ladies who had all come expecting so much delightful conversation, and the gloom and the constraint, and how finally, overwhelmed by the situation, my father had quietly left the room, left the house, and gone off to his club. Friendship with Elizabeth Gaskell Charlotte sent copies of Shirley to selected leading authors of the day, including Elizabeth Gaskell. Gaskell and Charlotte subsequently met in August 1850 and began a friendship which, whilst not necessarily close, was significant in that Gaskell would write a biography of Charlotte after Charlotte's death in 1855. The biography, The Life of Charlotte Brontë, was published in 1857 and was unusual at the time in that, rather than analysing its subject's achievements, it instead concentrated on the private details of Charlotte's life, in particular placing emphasis on aspects which countered the accusations of 'coarseness' which had been levelled at Charlotte's writing.

Though frank in places, Gaskell was selective about which details she revealed; for example, she suppressed details of Charlotte's love for Heger, a married man, as being too much of an affront to contemporary morals and as a possible source of distress to Charlotte's still-living friends, father and husband. Gaskell also provided doubtful and inaccurate information about Patrick Brontë, claiming, for example, that he did not allow his children to eat meat. This is refuted by one of Emily Brontë's diary papers, in which she describes the preparation of meat and potatoes for dinner at the parsonage, as Juliet Barker points out in her recent biography, The Brontës. It has been argued that the particular approach of The Life of Charlotte Brontë transferred the focus of attention away from the 'difficult' novels of not just Charlotte but all the Brontë sisters, and began a process of sanctification of their private lives. Villette Charlotte's third published novel (and her last to be published during her lifetime) was Villette, which came out in 1853.

The main themes of Villette include isolation, and how such a condition can be borne, and the internal conflict brought about by societal repression of individual desire. The book's main character, Lucy Snowe, travels abroad to teach in a boarding school in the fictional town of Villette, where she encounters a culture and religion different to her own, and where she falls in love with a man ('Paul Emanuel') whom she cannot marry due to societal forces. Her experiences result in her having a breakdown, but eventually she achieves independence and fulfilment in running her own school. Villette marked Charlotte's return to the format of writing from a first-person perspective (that of Lucy Snowe), a technique which she had used so successfully in Jane Eyre. Also similar to Jane Eyre was Charlotte's use of aspects from her own life history as inspiration for fictional events in the novel, in particular her reworking of her own time spent at the pensionnat in Brussels into Lucy spending time teaching at the boarding school, and her own falling in love with Constantin Heger into Lucy falling in love with 'Paul Emanuel'.

Villette was acknowledged by the critics of the day as being a potent and sophisticated piece of writing, although it was still criticised for its 'coarseness' and for not being suitably 'feminine' in its portrayal of Lucy's desires. Illness and subsequent death In June 1854, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's curate and, in the opinion of many scholars, the model for several of her literary characters such as Jane Eyre's Rochester and St. John. She became pregnant soon after the marriage. Her health declined rapidly during this time, and according to Gaskell, her earliest biographer, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness."Charlotte died, along with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855, at the young age of 38. Her death certificate gives the cause of death as phthisis (tuberculosis), but many biographers[who?] suggest she may have died from dehydration and malnourishment, caused by excessive vomiting from severe morning sickness or hyperemesis gravidarum.

There is also evidence to suggest that Charlotte died from typhus she may have caught from Tabitha Ackroyd, the Bronte household's oldest servant, who died shortly before her. Charlotte was interred in the family vault in The Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Haworth, West Yorkshire, England. Posthumously, her first-written novel was published in 1857, the fragment she worked on in her last years in 1860 (twice completed by recent authors, the more famous version being Emma Brown: A Novel from the Unfinished Manuscript by Charlotte Brontë by Clare Boylan, 2003), and much Angria material over the ensuing decades Charlotte Brontë's Works: The Young Men's Magazine, Number 1 - 3 (August 1830) The Spell

Question: Who wrote the novel Villette' in 1853?
Answer: Charlotte Bronte